As Paris Climate Summit Adjourns, Local Advocates Take Action

GREEN BAY, WI ­­ Today, as the United Nations’ International Climate Summit comes to a close in Paris, Green Bay area residents gathered on the steps of the Brown County Courthouse to highlight the goals of the summit and urge Wisconsin’s leaders in Madison and Washington to take action on climate change.

Local community leader Emily Jacobson said, “The Paris climate change agreement will help protect my children and future grandchildren, and will help ensure that we provide a better future for them. Unfortunately, here in Wisconsin, our elected leaders are not following the lead of more than 180 countries that know it’s well past time to act on carbon pollution.”

Jacobson continued, “The Paris Agreement is an important step, but I fear that without significant action here at home in Wisconsin, we are not doing our part to ensure that our state and our planet stays beautiful, clean, and safe for the next generation.”

In the United States, the EPA’s Clean Power Plan mirrors the proposed Paris Agreement and would reduce carbon emissions by 32% over the next 15 years.

Jonah Hermann, Communications Director for Wisconsin League of Conservation Voters, added, “The critical talks happening in Paris send a clear message to Americans, clean energy innovators, and our elected officials: that the world is united in our belief that climate change is the biggest global threat to our health and safety, and we demand serious solutions.”

Some of Wisconsin’s top elected officials have consistently and vocally opposed commonsense measures that would curb currently unlimited carbon pollution, and have thwarted legislative efforts to address climate change.

Hermann continued, “Leaders from over 180 countries have spent the last two weeks tirelessly working on solutions to this urgent problem. And yet, the elected leaders who are supposed to represent us in Madison and Washington continued their misguided attempts to move our country backward on climate change.”

Senator Ron Johnson sponsored a Congressional Review Act (CRA) bill that passed the U.S. Senate 52­46 last month that aims to roll back the Clean Power Plan. Johnson has been a consistent opponent of efforts to curb carbon pollution and address climate change.

Hermann concluded, “With Ron Johnson repeatedly making desperate attempts to block the Clean Power Plan, it is clearer than ever that big corporate polluters have Senator Ron Johnson in their pocket. It’s time for Senator Johnson to put the interest of millions of Wisconsinites above those of the corporate polluters filling his campaign war chest, and get serious about tackling climate challenges.”

As the Paris Climate Summit continues, conservation advocates across Wisconsin will continue to work towards local solutions and ask their lawmakers to support the Clean Power Plan. Other speakers included State Representative Amanda Stuck and Brown County Supervisor Dan Robinson.